Saturday, September 25, 2010

Let's hear it for Rick Scott

Would anyone have any objections if we stipulate that he's a scumbag? (That's our interpretation - not necessarily that of the sender of the message that follows)

Republican Rick Scott announced two policy proposals if he is elected. One is to allow Citizen's Insurance to raise rates to encourage more private companies to get back into the Florida's insurance market. He believes that if we raise the rates of 1.2 million Florida households, more private insurance companies will be interested in coming back to Florida. This plan will allow insurance companies to raise rates without almost any limits or regulations (details here).

His second plan is to save money by gutting the prison budget by a billion dollars. Law enforcement, prison, and union officials warn that a billion dollar cut would force some prisons to close and some dangerous inmates to be released. Scott wants to model our prison system after Texas. This coming from the Scott who touts he will add 700,000 jobs to Florida's economy when he is actually planning to cut thousands of jobs. (details here)

As if this is not enough, HCA and the lobbyists for US Sugar Corp are hosting a fundraiser for Rick Scott at Yankee Stadium on Sunday at the Yankees-Red Sox game. Yes, the same HCA that was fined $1.7 billion for Medicare fraud under Scott's watch. And yes, the same US Sugar Corp that poured millions in ads trashing Rick Scott during the primary. All this fundraising for Rick Scott who was on TV every twenty minutes during the primary calling himself the "outsider" who could be counted on not to take lobbying money. Hah! (details here)